About Me

Welcome to the new, and improved version of Heaven in Belgium.
I am Jientje. "Jientje", like the boys name Gene, followed by "chu"? "Gene-chu", that's how you pronounce my name.
Yes!!!!That's it!! So now you know huh?
I am an addicted blogger.
I was born and raised and am still living in Belgium. Yeah, the "this-is- Tuesday-so-this-must-be-Brussels" kind of Belgium .. There, you see? Maybe you couldn't find it on the map, but at least I'm trying to change that a little by sharing lots of pictures.
I really love to cook and create new things, like this blog for instance.
I am a mother, not a grandmother,I don't know if I'll ever be, but I'll let you know in due time! Oh and um ... I am a wife too!
They say I'm a traveler, and a photographer. Well that's just what they say, I love to make pictures, but I am far from professional ...
If my English is not perfect, that would be because it's my second language. I do hope you'll forgive me any possible misspellings or strange vocabulary ...
Now, as a result of all of the above,
I get way too little sleep and my days are always much too short!

Followers

Heaven is in Belgium

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Saturday Something ... Awwww, an Award!!! ( or maybe two?)

Thom has honoured me with the Honest Scrap award.Of course he had no way of knowing I had already received one in the past, but that's okay. I love awards, they're a token of friendship and appreciation. There are a couple of rules attached to it though...

“The Honest Scrap award comes with a caveat or 2. Firstly you have to tell your readers 10 things about you they may not know, but that are true. Secondly you have to tag 10 people with the award.”

Ten things you do not know already huh? Oh my!!

1. I have been a smoker all my life. Since I was fifteen , actually. I used to enjoy smoking, but I quit on April 30 2006, ( oooh, that's exactly three years ago!) and I have not regretted it since.

2. I own a collection of teddy bears, but I'm sure you knew that already? Some of them were made by me. I have a huge black grizzly bear I take with me whenever I need to go to the hospital. Fortunately, I have not been in a hospital much. Let's keep it that way!

3. I type with two fingers. That makes my daughter smile. I've never been good at typing, I always used to cheat! I can't find the letters on the keyboard if I'm not looking, I just can't!

4. I can never let go of some of my stuff. Throwing away anything is very very hard for me. I always find that if I do, I'm bound to need it shortly after! Last year, I got rid of a lot of my clothes from when I was thinner, only to loose weight again this year. I could have worn them again if I had not ditched them!

5. As a young girl I used to be a fairly good student, but I never managed to finish high school and get a diploma. I quit school at seventeen, and got married at eighteen. Getting a degree or a diploma did not seem that important in that era. I regret that now.

6. I'm very eager to learn new things, but I hate schools. I am a self educated girl. I taught myself how to cook, I taught myself how to use a camera, I tackled some computer skills all by myself, and now I'm teaching myself English. The down side is you need paperwork for everything in Belgium, you can't just be a cook or a photographer because you have talent. But I never seem to be able to find the courage and the patience to go to school where they teach me stuff I already know!

7. I'm not into fitness or exercising much, but I love to dance. If there was a way to exercise through dancing, I'd much rather do that. But then again, I hate to commit myself to regular sessions of anything. If I feel like dancing, I want to dance, not because I have to. I sometimes cannot resist dancing on my own when I'm alone at the house. ( and this has nothing to do with #8! LOL!

8. I love a glass of beer from time to time. So there Quilly, you're not the only one! My favourite beer is a Duvel, served very cold. It is one of our strongest beers in Belgium though! I added this beautiful commercial they made some time ago. One of the most breath taking videos I've ever seen. Enjoy ...

9. I tend to do three chores at a time. That does not always work well. I sometimes get lost in what I'm doing, and find my iron is still on the next day, and the shirts are in the dryer!

10. I'm an early bird. I love to get up early in the morning. No need for an alarm clock, I have one built in! I can't stand waking up at 10AM to find I have wasted half of my day. Sleep can be such a waste of time sometimes!

But because I love you all, I have another one to pass on. That one also came from Thom.

I am passing this one on to all of you who left a comment on any of my posts on May the 1st.In all honesty, I could not blog without your comments. I really really need that interaction with my readers. I thank you all for your comments, your encouragements, the virtual hug you sometimes give me through the kind words you leave behind. They mean so much to me.I know there may be some duplicate names in there, but this only proves just how friendly you are, so you really really deserve this award!

Feel free to pick it up and pass it on to your own readers. Let's fill the blogosphere with nothing but Friendly Bloggers, shall we? Oh and in case you haven't met, click the links and meet some of these wonderful people, okay?

* Sigh*Almost done.But a post is not a real post without at least one of my pictures, so today I'm sharing another Spring scenery from the beautiful Haspengouw region in Belgium ...

And speaking of pictures ....Over to the ineluctable begging part ...You have no idea how much I hate doing this!Have you seen my Scavenger hunt pictures? You did? If you haven't, they're here.If you like them, vote for me please?And if you have already voted, vote for me again? I don't know? Just saying?

Or vote for anybody else out there who deserves to win this, okay?

If you like my photography, please please please hop on over to Sweetsauer's and vote for me please? I'm not going to beg for this again after this week is over. But I will beg and plead for a vote every day of the week until May 7 ! So brace yourselves!! (Or vote for me?)

It is so great to get to know more about you. A two finger typists? Who would have thought. Congrats on quitting smoking. I enjoy it too much. Oh well. I also am an early riser. I think better early in the morning. This is excellent :)

Congrats on your Awards Jientje, you are most deserving. Oh and I do enjoy a cold beer from time to time as well (We pause here as Quilly gets her composure back). If you should ever get to my Neck of the Woods, you will have to try a "Kokanee" (Made from the Glacier Waters of British Columbia) and an "Alexander Keith's" from Nova Scotia. I always say the two best imports to Alberta from Nova Scotia were Alexander Keiths and Myself :)

Nice to meet you, lol ! I hate school too although I managed (I don't know how) to get my highschool certificate ! I also learned all by myself concerning photography and computers. I hate reading notices ! I reduced smoking to 12 per day but don't inhale anymore and I married only at 25 I just had fun before !

@ Quilly: Once I had really set my mind to it I wanted to quit, it was not (that) hard. Coffee beer huh? Sounds interesting. I'd like to try it?@ Thom: yeah, I know the feeling, I always injoyed it myself.@ Jacki: thanks for the compliment!@ Bill: I'd love toà try that!Maybe I should get a job as a "thirsty traveller"! LOL!@ Melli: I like it too!@ Nicole: You're welcome!@ Gattina: You're still having fun!

It had to be hard to quit after all those years of smoking - but good for you! I can't type without looking and really only use two fingers on each hand so I'm about as bad as it as you. :) Thanx for passing it on!